Arena Ratings system and requirements to be changed
by Zach Yonzon 
May 7th 2009 at 11:00AM
I mentioned off-hand in last weekend's WRUP that Blizzard borked the system again, and it turns out they did -- Crygil recently announced on the forums that they are working on an in-game update that should improve the ratings system of the 3v3 and 5v5 brackets to allow players in those brackets to achieve ratings similar to what can be gained in 2v2. They are also pushing the requirement of the iLevel 239 Furious Gladiator weapons from 2200 to 2350 to prevent more mayhem because, well, it's kind of too late to take back all those iLevel 232 weapons running around now, isn't it? The good news is that Blizzard is properly rewarding the other brackets after three seasons of having 2v2 advance faster and farther in ratings. The Arena Ratings system has undergone several iterations since it was introduced so you'd have thought Blizzard fixed it somewhere along the road. Apparently they didn't.
Crygil also points out that for Season 7, Blizzard plans to revert the requirements for the highest rated Arena weapons back to 2200 but ensure that the difficulty required to get those ratings are "closer to what is intended". This means that Season 6 is just about the best season to get into Arenas because ratings come rather easily. You know how Blizzard keeps on nerfing Ulduar so more people can experience it? This is the time to try out Arenas because the new progressive ratings system feels good. Just don't get used to it too much because Blizzard is going to 'tweak' the system again for Season 7.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Superasil May 7th 2009 11:05AM
hmmm sounds cool, like it.
Wyred May 7th 2009 11:09AM
Any news on whether they'll make the S5 weps available? Still running around with a high stam pve wep myself, something not as good for the part-timers would be great. Just anything with resilience please.
PS, arena ratings mucked up. This is SHOCKING NEWS!
Roboticus May 7th 2009 11:28AM
In my opinion, the arena rating system is the most excellently tuned it's ever been. At my lowly 1800 rating, we only meet other people of our rating and aren't steamrolled by the highly skilled players above us. On my alts miserable 1400 team, we only fight 1400s who also have "creatively matched" gear. I think they've finally found a system that effectively squashes all the previous manipulations of the system (team selling, power leveling, glad rerolls) that made arena so difficult for the new entrant. The OP is right that now is the best time to play arenas. Be sure to approach it as a learning experience (so you don't get frustrated at first), but I guarantee it'll make you a better player in the end. The skills even transfer over into higher situational-awareness for raiding situations.
And to the arena haters, please, understand that some of us do enjoy arenas. I don't enjoy achievements, but I would think it short-sighted to endorse getting rid of them.
Candina@WH May 7th 2009 11:07AM
Heres hoping that Season 7 is seaon 'final'.
Kyle May 7th 2009 11:10AM
This is just pointless QQ but..
Does anyone else feel like you always just barely miss the sweet spot to cash in on blizzards screw ups.
Oh well. at least arena ratings seem like theyll be easy this season
Deadly. Off. Topic. May 7th 2009 11:11AM
I'm still waiting for them to admit to screwing up on putting arena rating on BG gear.
Lemons May 9th 2009 3:15AM
Unless you were on the verge of a 2.2k rating along with having a hefty amount of arena points you didn't miss anything.
The ilvl 232 are still available for an 1850 rating, hooray!
T May 7th 2009 11:12AM
Why would anyone want to try out the Arena when the entire system has been and remains broken?
I've watched Blizzard make this game since pre-TBC, and they've made mistakes sometimes. And fixed them in almost every case. The one glaring exception is Arenas. The entire system is inherently broken, and it is apparently deeply flawed given that Blizzard has been working on it for years now and we continue to see WoWInsider articles like the one above.
Next expansion, wipe the Arena system entirely and rebuild it correctly. It is a great idea, but of all of Blizzard's WoW features, it remains a disappointment for many players.
Yeng May 7th 2009 11:16AM
What do you feel is 'inherently broken' about the arena system. Sure it has its flaws, but I don't see the need to wipe it all and start from anew. How would you create it differently from the ground up? It seems to me that the system in place works for the most part, the 'broken' part comes with class balance, and that is always going to be an ongoing battle as they add abilities and modify classes.
Quickshiv May 7th 2009 11:46AM
The number one way to fix arena and balance it is to make spells and abilities effect other players differently then mobs. Stop treating your customers like morons we can read a two sentence tool tip and know that an ability does x amount less damage to a player.
Para May 7th 2009 11:47AM
What he is trying to say is that unless you have the gear you cant get the high ratings you need to be able to buy the gear.
What should happen is you can access all the gear at a fairly low starting rating so that once you get to like 1750+ its all about gear and not to do with who has full sets of BIS pvp items.
Para May 7th 2009 11:48AM
What should happen is you can access all the gear at a fairly low starting rating so that once you get to like 1750+ its all about *SKILL* and not to do with who has full sets of BIS pvp items.
Fixed made a mistake first time through ^^
Quickshiv May 7th 2009 12:13PM
I also totally agree with this. In fact I have always thought that everyone should be able to use all the pvp gear inside the arena. A sort of special set that gets equipped when entering but you can not use outside of arena. You could still buy the gear to use outside and other cool things like special mounts or whatever.
Nadril May 7th 2009 12:44PM
Actually getting geared up for the arenas has never been easier.
- There is a full hateful set you can get for just honor. If you farm semi hardcore you can get a piece every day or two. (main set pieces).
- There is pretty much a craftable weapon for everyone. I know that people may say it doesn't compare to those using high iLvl weapons from naxx, ulduar or S6 weapons but I have personally seen many players wearing heroic epic weapons and still doing very well for themselves. And really pugging naxx is the easiest thing ever, there is no excuse not to find a decent weapon.
- You can get the battlemasters trinket for just honor now and you can get the epic 84 resil trinket for cheap.
- Wintergrasp is an amazing source for gear. You can balance your honor gear with the wintergrasp boots/chest/belt/helm/trinkets easily. Also the wintergrasp trinkets are amazing for starting out in PvP.
Really I think that getting geared up for S6 is not that difficult.
Jon Do May 7th 2009 1:17PM
@Nadril
"Actually getting geared up for the arenas has never been easier."
That misses their point.
Their point is that *if* Arena PvP is about *PvP skill*, then the live Arena system would work like the tournament servers:
Everyone with their choice of any class / race/ gear in the game, then let's have the match to determine who wins based upon *skill*. (Acknowledging that there is some RNG inherent in the WoW combat system.)
Nadril May 7th 2009 3:03PM
@Jon Do:
There is still an aspect of gear in the arena that won't change. WoW is an MMO still and there still, IMO, needs to be progression in all forms of it -- including the arena.
Will people out gear you sometimes? Certainly. There are people already running around with iLvl232 weapons from ulduar and S6 in the arena (I'm one of them with my ulduar 2H) but in all honesty you just deal with it.
In the arena small dps changes aren't as important. Do they help? always. However once you get your base set of gear (say full hateful, PvP + WG trinket, heroic or crafted weapon) you are on pretty good terms for PvP. Good players will be able to carry that gear through higher ratings.
And players that aren't as good? Well this season is nice because deadly gear is dead easy to get. The highest deadly piece needs a , what, 1400 rated team to get? Players can gear themselves out very nicely even if it means having to stick at a certain rating for a while getting points.
You need to remember arena seasons are long. This isn't a one month or two month deal. Even S5, the shortest season by far, lasted 6 or so months. You have plenty of time to gear up and continue to progress through the arena.
Now don't get me wrong, I would totally play on a server that was "arena only" like the tournament realm. I think it would be a lot of fun to play. However on normal servers I like the gear progression the arena holds.
lol@you May 7th 2009 7:52PM
"What he is trying to say is that unless you have the gear you cant get the high ratings you need to be able to buy the gear."
Sorry, gear gaps only affect low skilled players. I've farmed full hateful geared players last season in blues and greens.
pls l2p
Para May 8th 2009 1:11PM
@ Nadril "Actually getting geared up for the arenas has never been easier.
- There is a full hateful set you can get for just honor. If you farm semi hardcore you can get a piece every day or two. (main set pieces)."
If you can farm 50k honor in 1 day im sorry to say you either 1. play too much or 2. win every bg in under 5 min.
Not to mention that hateful even has a higher team rating requirement than deadly atm.....because that makes sense.....
Anyway i have most of the gear but thats not my point what i was trying to show is that unless you have practically best in slot items you wont be able to compete above 1600-1700 and after those stages you need full resi or you will get your ass handed to you (if your on a competitive BG like EU cyclone)
Certain classes rely on res more than other classes and its these classes that fall into the catch 22 "dont have the gear to get the ratings to buy the gear"
#16 lol@you
Unlike you i dont play faceroll classes. So you are apparently someone who can "farm hatefull geared players in blues and greens" yea i would really really like to see that done without you playing a pally or dk.
I know exactly what im doing in arenas its just a joke that i cant find decent dps that have more than 400 res and/or boost them to the ratings we need because they get bursted down in a GCD or 2 without 700+
armi0022 May 7th 2009 11:25AM
Yeah, a lot of people complain that arena is broken, but I am not sure in what way. How would you do it better?
S5 was disappointing because the Savage gear was so worthless next to PVE gear and if you didn't have a high rating, there wasn't much to go for in arena (nothing to spend points on if you sat under 1650 or so).
I love S6. I am climbing over 1700 and have too many choices on things to buy. Even if you are at 1500, you can buy some Deadly set pieces and all the Hateful you want. Other than ongoing class balance challenges, the system seems fine.
Rhaycen May 7th 2009 11:29AM
I hope other people have fun in the Arenas. Though numbers seem to indicate that fewer and fewer people are participating in it.
I've never found competitive PvP to be my cup-of-tea ... but to each its own.